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Gaia
Gaia is the primordial-Earth goddess and the great mother of the Olympian Gods and the Titans. She is the narrator and a main character in God of War II, and the secondary antagonist of God of War III. Greek Mythology In Greek mythology, Gaia (Γαîα) was the primal goddess personifying the earth. She was a primordial and chthonic ancient deity and was considered the Mother Goddess of all life. She was born of Chaos, arising as the everlasting foundation of the Gods of Olympus. She created the Titan Ouranos (Roman: Uranus), the starry sky, as her husband and to cover her, the hills, and the fruitless deep of the sea, Pontus. Together they created the elemental Titans, amongst others the world ocean Oceanus, the pre-Olympic sun Hyperion ("The High-One"), Iapetus (father of Prometheus), Rhea, Mnemosyne ("Memory"), Phoebe ("Light") and Tethys (wife and sister of Oceanus, mother of the world rivers). After them was born Cronos, the wily, youngest, and most terrible of her children, who hated his sire. Other Titan-born creatures came from Gaia such as the Hecatonchires and the dragon Python. Her equivalent in the Roman pantheon was Terra. In the God of War series In the ''God of War'' series, Gaia is the narrator for all of the games, but has only actually appeared in God of War II and God of War III. She is portrayed as being made of earth, covered head to toe with trees, and portly in shape reminiscent of the Venus of Willendorf, though in Greek Mythology she was essentially the Earth itself. She was banished at the end of the Great War but helped Kratos in his quest for revenge. In return, he rescued her along with the other Titans from the first Great War, and beginning the second Great War with the gods. Birth and Early Days In the beginning, there was only darkness-the first deity, Chaos. From Chaos came Nyx, and together they created the world. Wishing to survey their work, they made the Island of Creation, where all life would begin. The first to be born was Gaia, who would become the mother of the earth. Ouranos, personification of the sky, was then created, joining with Gaia and giving birth to the Cyclops, the Hecatonchires, and the Titans. Ouranos, out of disgust and hatred, imprisoned the Cyclops and Hecatonchires within Tartarus. Out of anger at the imprisonment of her children, Gaia asked the Titans to help overthrow Ouranos. Only Cronos accepted this task, and when Ouranos went to lay with Gaia, Cronos attacked his father with a stone sickle, castrating him and throwing the severed organ into the sea. From the dismembered genitals came Aphrodite, goddess of love and beauty. Soon the Titans would rule the world with Cronos as their leader, but they had no sense of what to do until Gaia created Themis, who gave natural order to life. First Titanomachy It was prophesized that one day Cronos would also be overthrown by his children, just as he overthrew his own father, and he swallowed them whole after they were born. However, Cronos’ wife, Rhea, could not bear another loss and tricked Cronos into swallowing an Omphalos Stone wrapped in cloth. This baby was named Zeus, and would be raised within Gaia's own body until he came of age and decided to take revenge upon Cronos. When Zeus became an adult, he freed his brothers and sisters from the belly of Cronos and began a revolt against the Titans, starting the Great War. During this war, Gaia aided the Titans in the battle, and was eventually cast into Tartarus along with her children. Second Titanomachy Gaia and Kratos led the Titans in battle as they climbed Mount Olympus, but the Olympian Gods retaliated and killed two of them. Poseidon began his attack on Gaia, but was eventually killed off brutally by Kratos. Betraying Kratos After Poseidon's death, Kratos and Gaia continued their travel towards Zeus, but were thwarted by the King of the Gods and a well-aimed lightning bolt, sending Gaia and Kratos plummeting back down. Gripping Mount Olympus for dear life, one of Gaia's hands partially snapped off, barely connected by enormous vines. Kratos attempted to hold onto Gaia's back, but after calling for aid, Gaia refuses. Stating both of them would die if she tried to help, and trivializing Kratos' revenge as being secondary to the Titans', Gaia let Kratos fall, calling him a pawn that had lost its usefulness. When Kratos reached the city of Olympia, Gaia was found in distress, asking Kratos for his help. Kratos, still enraged about Gaia not having helped him in his hour of need, retorted in a show of cruel irony it was in fact Gaia and the Titans who were the pawns, his pawns. Kratos then severed the vines connecting Gaia's snapped-off hand with the Blade of Olympus, sending Gaia to her apparent doom at the bottom of Mount Olympus. When Kratos visited Tartarus, he came across Gaia's severed hand and met with Cronos, who stated Gaia was dead, and subsequently attempted to kill Kratos to avenge her. Gaia's Return When finally having reached Zeus again, Kratos was shocked to find out Gaia had returned, having replaced her severed hand with one made of twisted tree roots. Declaring she never sought Kratos' death, she now saw no other option due to the damage he had inflicted upon her Earth. Zeus commented she should have chosen the other one, but Gaia simply replied she would destroy them both, crushing the Shrine of Olympus in her hands. Both father and son fell into Gaia, and found their way back to her heart, where Kratos shattered it's defenses, and drew energy from the Titan, causing her immense pain. After Zeus made his appearance, the battle resumed, until Kratos stabbed Zeus with the Blade of Olympus and ran him through Gaia's heart, killing her as her body collapsed onto Olympus, dissolving into dust. When Kratos awakened from the fall, all that remained of the mighty Titan were large chunks of earth, and some withered trees and branches. Trivia * Gaia, serving as Narrator in all of the God of War games prior to God of War III, is voiced by actress Linda Hunt. In God of War III, no longer the narrator, she is voiced by Susan Blakeslee. However, in the opening cinematic detailing Kratos' past, Linda Hunt still narrated the prologue. Susan Blakeslee voiced the Oracle of Athens who helped Kratos on how to kill a god. * Interestingly, Gaia only narrates the story of God of War II up until the point when Kratos first meets her in the Underworld. Beyond that, she does not narrate, but has a similar job by speaking directly to Kratos in the background on numerous occasions throughout the game. * The last words Gaia said as the narrator, right before rescuing Kratos, were: "Kratos was destined to bring about change so severe that it would shake the very pillars of Mount Olympus. His death was something that I could not allow." * In God of War II, it is strange to note that Gaia had expected Kratos' sudden arrival in the Titanomachy's end, even though the battle had taken place thousands of years before. It could be that, due to the fact that Gaia is, essentially, the earth itself, she would be able to foretell events that transpire(d) in the past, present, and future. * Though Gaia is addressed as being one of the Titans in the God of War series, she wasn't considered one in real myth. In real Greek mythology, Gaia was essentially the earth itself. With Ouranus embodying the sky, she then gave birth to the twelve Titans. She in fact was a member of the first generation of deities in the Greek pantheon known as the Protogenoi (Primordials). Other members were Ouranus, Pontus, her sister Nyx and brothers Erebus, and Tartarus to name a few. * Gaia first sided alongside Kratos in his quest for revenge, only to reveal he was being used as a pawn when finally reaching Zeus. This turn of events did not bode well, and proved her downfall. ** Gaia's deceptive nature is alluded to in God of War II by Athena who proclaims, "Gaia is a liar, who speaks only half-truths." ** Lahkesis also tells Kratos that Gaia is liar in words "I see Gaia has filled you with her lies" * She makes a cameo in the new Mortal Kombat game on the Chamber of the Flame stage in which she destroys a section of the wall and you can see her watching the fight. * Gaia and Athena have similar voices to each other in the first game but they are not voiced by the same actress. * Gaia is one of the Primordials who participated in the war between them. She is also one of the strongest Primordials, since she survived the war along with Tartarus, Thanatos, Morpheus and perhaps the Sisters of Fate. * Gaia is the last Primordial to die since most were killed in the war, Thanatos and the Sisters of Fate were killed in God of War: Ghost of Sparta and God of War II, and perhaps Morpheus was killed by its fellow Gods after the events of Chains of Olympus, or either by the Titans in the Second Titanomachy. * Gaia is also the Primordial who has participated in most wars, since she took part in the battle between the Primordials, the Great War and the Second Great War. She is also the only Primordial to take place in the Great War and the Second Great War. * It is also odd to notice that most Primordials are astronomical in size but in God of War III we see Gaia is the same size of all Titans, this might be that Primordials are capable of shapeshifting, or she might have just taken the appareance of a titan to help the others defeat Zeus. 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